Organizers of a children’s drawing competition to mark the centenary of Russia’s security services have warned participants against submitting “bloody” pictures.
“The drawings should reflect the activities of the security services, which are inseparable from our country’s history,” the Tomsk regional administration said in a press release.
The competition is a joint initiative between regional authorities, the local FSB branch, and a school to celebrate one hundred years since the founding of the FSB’s predecessor, the Cheka.
The Cheka was a security apparatus notorious for orchestrating mass summary executions during the Russian Civil War and the Red Terror.
In comments to the Interfax-Siberia news agency, the school’s head said the organizers were looking for drawings to reflect “historic events FSB officers took part in,” including “pictures of officers in historical uniforms, border guards, illustrations of missions to rescue hostages from the hands of bandits, but no bloody tales.”
A winner will be announced on Dec. 15.